Penn Central Commuter Train / Empire Service Project

 Happy New Year Everyone!!!

The Fourteenth Year Begins!!

We begin the fourteenth year of this blog with the below project. Hard to believe thirteen years have passed since I started building the layout. I have learned much and hopefully shared some useful information along the way. It has been an enjoyable undertaking and a testament that model railroading is fun and this is the worlds greatest hobby. Now for the first project of 2024!!

Penn Central Commuter Train / Empire Service Project

At the end of 2023 I started a Penn Central commuter train / Empire Service project using Athearn BB 72' passenger cars that can more easily handle the 22" radius curves on the inside main of the layout. These passenger cars will augment my fleet of 85' PC, NYC, and PRR passenger equipment. The PC 72' cars will be able to mix and match with my current BB roaster of NYC, PRR, NH and Amtrak passenger car fleet.

A commuter train is easily defined by most. What is an Empire Service train and how did this start? Read on!!

"Two New York Central E8As at Hudson, NY" by railfan 44 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/?ref=openverse.
Note the PC coach above behind the E8A.

Prototype Info

The NYC Great Steel Fleet 

In 1944 the New York Central System began to update their aging fleet of passenger cars anticipating a post war boom in rail travel. New streamlined cars arrived on the property thru the 1940s as entire named trains were upgraded at the cost of millions and millions of dollars. 

"New York Central System" by Phil Beard is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The NYC April 1949 system timetable (form 1001) listed 136 trains in 71 tables including service to San Antonio, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and St. Petersburg. The boom however was a bust and within the next decade the decline of passenger traffic nearly bankrupted the New York Central. 

The numbers of trains in subsequent timetables showed the number of trains declining thru 1958 when the restructuring had the number of crack limiteds falling to 83 trains in 44 tables.

As the losses kept mounting in 1956 the NYC put up for sale the majority of its passenger stations.

In January 1958 Robert R. Young, Chairman of the Board of the New York Central and a big proponent of the passenger train committed suicide. His successor, Alfred E. Perlman quickly turned his attention to the hemorrhaging NYC passenger service.

In 1958 the NYC seeking to recoup some of it's massive investment began selling much of the Great Steel Fleet to other railroads mainly in Mexico and Canada.

The NYC December 1967 timetable (form 1001) listed just 8 trains in 10 tables on a single foldout sheet. Gone were the named trains (except for the James Whitcomb Riley) and the 20th Century Limited became NYC Train numbers 25/26.

"Private Rail Car - Hickory Creek" by Luxury Train Club is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Enter Empire Service

On December 3rd, 1967 the NYC initiated its Empire Service between New York and Buffalo and put forward an effort to schedule frequent and reliable service. These trains were also replicated by the Penn Central and Amtrak. Empire Service continues to this day.

"Southbound Amtrak Empire Service" by joseph a is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

"Disembarking the Empire Service" by joseph a is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The Models

The first car I converted was this Penn Central "snack bar coach" #4553 which was originally a New York Central diner. The lettering and number are from a photo of PC diner 4553. The "snack bar coach" is freelance add on which made more sense for an Empire Service train

Penn Central coach #2915 was an undecorated BB model that I modeled from a photo of PC coach #2915. The green shades are from the mailing packages from the PCRRHS POST magazine.

Penn Central coach #4010 is painted and lettered from a photo of the 1:1 PC #4010. This car was originally a dark brown PRR coach that I stripped, repainted and lettered. Rust-Oleum rattle can aluminum for the body, flat black for the roof and gloss black for the letter board. There was lots of blue painters tape used on this car!

Here is the completed three car set.

A late 2023 purchase of this used Athearn RTR Southern Railway coach will be added to the PC fleet once the weather warms up enough to open up the outdoor Patti O Paint Shop. The car came with metal wheels and Kadee couplers so the conversion should be mostly cosmetic.

The 72' passenger cars made their first revenue run on January 5th, 2024 simulating 1969-1971 commuter and Empire Service trains with passenger cars from the NYC, PRR. NH and the new Southern coach.

PC 4010 is coupled to a PRR coach named ERIE that I was purchased to strip and repaint. Instead I traded with my son for a really dark brown PRR coach that is now the 4010.

The 2915 was the simplest Penn Central car to model and is reminiscent of the PC coach behind the NYC E8A in the opening photo. Here it is coupled to PRR and NYC coaches.

The Trains in action!

Final Thoughts and Comments

As a passenger train enthusiast I like the look of the late 60's and 70's gritty and hard scrabble mix and match of the Penn Central, New York Central, Pennsylvania, New Haven and Amtrak rolling stock in one train.

The Athearn BB 72' cars are reasonable stand ins for me and their ability to easily handle 22" curves is a big plus. While they are not award winning models they are rugged and reliable. I've added metal wheels, Kadee couplers and additional weight to further ensure reliability for my 1:87 scale travelers. 

Sources and Links

New York Central's Great Steel Fleet 1968-1967 by Geoffrey H. Doughty.

Penn Central 2915

Penn Central Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment by James Kinkaid.

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!